Garmin Drive 50 Usa Lm Gps Navigator System Review
Verdict
Pros
- Lifetime map updates
- Commuter awareness features
- Verbal routing using landmarks
Cons
- No alive traffic updates
- Captured ability adapter cable isn't great
Key Specifications
- Review Price: £109.99
- five-inch resistive widescreen with 480 x 272 pixels
- UK and Ireland maps with lifetime updates
- Existent Directions exact routing with landmarks
- Commuter sensation features
- Non-integrated quick-release mount
What is the Garmin Bulldoze 50LM?
The Drive is the entry-level model in Garmin'south latest set of satnavs, with its chief focus on driver awareness. The ii other devices in the range include the DriveSmart, which partners with your smartphone to provide actress facilities, and the DriveAssist adding a built-in dashcam. At that place's also a DriveLuxe, whose emphasis is on style and pattern.
It'south the Drive that we're focusing on here, and the option includes the 40LM, which uses a iv.3-inch widescreen, the 5-inch 50LM I was sent for review, and the 6-inch 60LM. All three have nearly the aforementioned features; information technology's mainly the screen sizes and resolutions that differentiate them. The ii smaller versions take screens with 480 x 272 pixels, just the 60LM's larger brandish is a higher 800 x 600.
Related: All-time dash cam
Garmin Drive 50LM – Mounting and Maps
Since the Drive is an entry-level satnav, it doesn't include any fancy magnetic mounting organization. Merely, unlike TomTom's entry-level Go 51, the mount is notwithstanding a dissever unit. The satnav clips into this easily, but you have to hook upward the ability separately. Unfortunately, the ability connexion includes a captured car power adapter, so you won't be able to utilise a dual-USB alternative to power multiple devices, unless yous supply your own cable too.
The Bulldoze 50LM I was sent included maps roofing just the UK and Republic of Ireland. These come up with a lifetime subscription to updates, and so will always be the latest versions. The Drive 50LM can besides be obtained with European maps for £129.99. Considering the lifetime map updates included, the European version is the meliorate value option if you ever plan a road trip in Europe, since hiring a satnav when on holiday can cost almost £20 per day.
Garmin Bulldoze 50LM – Menu
There are few changes to the Drive 50LM's card. The master screen provides ii large icons for setting up a new destination or only viewing the map, with a row of smaller icons forth the lesser for secondary functions. Ane of these is for installed apps. As standard, these include a database of Points of Interest (POIs) from Foursquare, which provides additional data such every bit phone numbers alongside addresses.
The preinstalled apps besides provide compatibility with motorcar-related Garmin audio-visual add together-ons, including the BC thirty wireless backup camera and BabyCam. There's too a Trip Planner for multi-waypoint journeys, a tracker showing where you've been, and a specially handy function that displays where the device was last disconnected from power. This will usually be where yous parked, so will exist helpful in locating your machine.
At that place are multiple options for finding a destination. The search bar is keyword based, and operates across the address database, standard POI database, and Foursquare POIs. You can also set up a list of favourites and a Home location. There'southward a list of recent destinations, and you can nonetheless accept the traditional route of searching addresses by city street or POIs by category. The Trip Planner can be found here, also, as well as Square, and you can customise the screen with your own searches. Overall, information technology's a pretty intuitive interface.
Related: All-time Sabbatum Nav
Garmin Drive 50LM – Navigation and Commuter Awareness
Like the menu system, the basic navigation map hasn't alter noticeably since the past few generations of Garmin satnavs. The next turn and its street name are shown at the height, with the current speed and estimated inflow fourth dimension at the lesser. Y'all can choose to show some POI categories on-screen, such equally restaurants and petrol stations. But in that location are some new navigational and commuter awareness features.
Existent Directions promises to "guide you like a friend". I've never been a fan of the 3D buildings that some satnavs display on their screens, in an try to help yous navigate with existent visible landmarks. The feature has e'er felt like a gimmick and hasn't proved particularly useful in practice. Real Directions, notwithstanding, uses descriptions derived from Foursquare to provide spoken turn-by-turn directions that convey instructions using verbal descriptions of recognisable features.
For example, the spoken routing will tell you to "plough correct at the church building" or the traffic lights. I found this was genuinely helpful, reducing the amount of fourth dimension I needed to spend looking at the satnav screen. They appear only subtly – fifty-fifty though Garmin claims in that location are millions of these from Foursquare – but are welcome nonetheless.
The driver awareness functions include notifications of upcoming sharp curves, school zones, speed changes, crossings for railways and animals, and warnings when y'all're driving the wrong fashion down a one-way street. This is expressed as pop-upwardly letters – for case, warning you of nearby children around a school, with a slide-out notification forth the acme informing y'all that there's a school nearby.
The latter is maybe a little overzealous, and doesn't accept into account the time of solar day. You're unlikely to accept kids wandering most a school at midnight on a Sabbatum, for case. But the speed change and curve warnings could be helpful at any time of day or night. There are likewise safe photographic camera locations preinstalled, although a subscription will be required to keep this upwards to engagement.
The terminal new addition is a fatigue warning, which pops upwards after y'all've been driving continually for a certain amount of time. This can also suggest potential rest areas and direct you lot to them, which is perhaps more useful than the alarm itself. The latter doesn't appear to have any timing aligning available other than turning it off completely.
Should I buy the Garmin Drive 50LM?
The Garmin Drive 50LM is a very capable entry-level satnav. It's easy to use and the directions it provides are fifty-fifty clearer than earlier, with some bonus awareness features to assistance you stay safe and on track. Nonetheless, with the 5-inch TomTom Get 51 costing an almost identical £130 as the 50LM with European maps, the nod just goes to TomTom.
This is because the Get 51 too includes TomTom's first-class Traffic service, which may only be bachelor via a Bluetooth-paired smartphone, but information technology's worth enabling on a commute notwithstanding. So although the Garmin Drive may be a very achieved satnav, at this price the option of live traffic updates swings things in favour of TomTom's entry-level offering.
Verdict
The Garmin Bulldoze is a capable entry-level satnav, with some natty new exact direction and driver awareness features, but the TomTom Go51's live traffic updates makes it the amend option at this toll.
Trusted Score
Score in detail
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Battery Life 7
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Value 8
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Features 7
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Functioning 8
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Design 9
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Usability 8
Features
| Screen Size (inches) (Inch) | 5in |
| Brandish Type | Color |
| General Features | Lifetime maps of UK and Republic of Republic of ireland, safety photographic camera warnings |
| Easily Free | No |
Physical Specifications
| Live Services | No |
| Battery life (Hour) | 1hr |
| Meridian (Millimeter) | 84mm |
| Width (Millimeter) | 140mm |
| Depth (Millimeter) | 20mm |
| Weight (Gram) | 170.8g |
Source: https://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/garmin-drive-50lm
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